1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to holding devices, specifically to such devices which are used to hold in place cartridge holding devices known as "full moon" clips and "half moon" clips which accept rimmed or non-rimmed firearm cartridges, and also to hold in place cartridge holding devices known as "speed loaders" which hold rimmed firearm cartridges.
2. Description of Prior Art
Half and full moon clips are in the prior art designed to allow non-rimmed firearm cartridges to be fired from firearms that require rimmed cartridges. The half or full moon clips act as an artificial rim for the non-rimmed cartridges.
Recently, half and full moon clips have also been used to hold rimmed cartridges in specially modified firearms. This has provided the advantages of increasing efficiencies in loading and reloading and also has made unecessary the prior art conventional "speed loader" which must be discarded after the cartridges are loaded into the firearms' open cylinder.
Half and full moon clips when filled with cartridges have in the prior art either been held loosely in pockets, or in devices designed to secure loaded half or full moon clips to ones person that would allow rapid access. These have met with very little success because they have relied on spring clips and or moving parts that in fact hinder the very rapid loading or unloading process they are meant to serve.
The long held need for a simple, efficient means to hold half and full moon clips for easy access is shown in the enclosed exhibit A, example of prior art, an article in Guns & Ammo, June 1992, pages 30 and 31, in which an expert in the prior art is attempting to answer a similar question from a reader speaking to this need. It is clear from the experts response that no uniform means is available today to handle the holding of loaded full and half moon clips, nor is any suggestion made by the expert in the prior art to the possibility of such a device as taught in the present invention. Also, substantial problems exist in the prior art in cartridge holding devices which are known as "speed loaders", with respect to their storage and usage. In the prior art of speed loaders, the edge of the pouch in which the speed loaders are stored, is proximate to the top of the speed loader thereby making grasping difficult. Therefore the speed loaders are often lifted by the top cartridge release knob, often accidentally causing the release of cartridges before they are inserted in the cylinder. This can be very dangerous in a critical situation. In the case of a rapid loading situation, in the prior art of speed loaders, if a fumble of manual dexterity occurs, there is a chance that the cartridges would be lost to rapid retrieval.
In high stress situations, fine motor skills are diminished, and if the release knob of the speed loader is mistakenly activated when grasped, and prior to insertion in the cylinder, cartridges can fall back into the holding pouch of the prior art or fall and be lost on the street and cannot be quickly retrieved and loaded.